Medical beliefs in Medieval times

The fall of the Western Roman Empire altered the pace of progress
for the people of the medieval era. Parts of Europe were
so disrupted that chaos overshadowed any type of scientifi c or
medical knowledge. In other areas, the culture held together well
enough that some of the medical practices from Greek and Roman
times survived to be passed on to later generations.

Inheriting these classical beliefs was a mixed blessing. The
theories of anatomy, circulation, and how diseases passed among
people were a good start at medical understanding, and the ideas
would have been good “stepping stones” on the way to more
advanced scholarship. Unfortunately, most practitioners viewed
the information as indisputable truths, so the classic beliefs smothered
the possibility of additional learning. Particularly damaging
was the strict adherence to the belief in the four humors, and the
resulting practice of bloodletting as a way to bring the humors in
better balance.
Religious healing predominated during this time, and
advances were made in botany, some of which led to the creation
of herbal medications that were helpful. While surgery was held
in low regard, it was vital when someone suffered kidney stones or was injured in a battle. The necessity of experimenting with
various surgical remedies eventually led to some progress in
this area.
This chapter focuses on what was happening in Western
Europe during the early Middle Ages and outlines what medical
practices were important during this time. The theories of contagion
and the resulting decisions as to what would be curative are
introduced. The importance of gardening to people of all classes
is explained; religion’s influence on medicine, and the subjects of
astrology and alchemy—two of the fields of “science” that were
pursued at this time—also are examined.